Keeping An Eye on Them
by Sometimes A Writer
Summary: A kind, watchful set of eyes has been keeping track of how two certain NCIS agents continue to cope. A continuation of "Back to Baltimore" and certain elements of "A Man Walks Into A Bar ..." included.
1. Chapter 1

**This story is a little bit different than the one I just completed. Also, it is a continuation of "Back to Baltimore," but it doesn't pick up immediately after. There are some details in this first chapter that will only be understood from reading "Back to Baltimore." And I apologize in advance for the cliffhanger at the end of the chapter. I have the pieces in place for the next couple of chapters, just need to get them in order.**

**Anyways, enjoy and feel free to review to review and criticize. I do not own any characters or settings from NCIS.  
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><p>Tony DiNozzo gazed into the near clear and dark sky that revealed the millions of stars that lined the galaxy as he walked up the all-too familiar driveway to the porch to his boss' house.<p>

He turned the unlocked door handle and walked into Leroy Jethro Gibbs' home with a six-pack of beer in hand, where the smell of a finely cooked sirloin engulfed his nostrils and immediately made his mouth water.

"Cooking for two or just expecting me to show up," Tony asked, knowing what Gibbs' answer likely would be.

"Hadn't seen you in five weeks, figured you'd show up once you got back in town. Abby called after you dropped her off and said you'd likely be on the way."

"I'll have to thank her for calling since the steaks are ready when I got here."

"Uh huh. Glad you brought the beers since I haven't replaced the bourbon yet," Gibbs shot back at Tony, reminding him of when Tony, Abby and Palmer stayed at his house while Tony was investigating the double murder in Baltimore when everyone else on the Major Case Response Team was either on vacation or out of town.

Tony didn't respond, knowing he'd reply back that it was Abby's responsibility to replace it, since she drank it, and knowing that Gibbs would shoot him a look that he didn't care if Abby drunk it, Tony was going to have to replace it.

The two began cutting into the steaks and savoring the tenderness of the sirloin. A few bites in, Tony finally spoke up. While he had adhered to Rule 11 during his two weeks off, he was curious to figure out what the others thought of what he had done.

"Guessing you read through the file on what happened in Baltimore," Tony asked in a more passive tone instead of inquisitive. He was doing his best not to sound like he was gloating. That would be left for Ziva and McGee when he arrived at work Monday.

"Uh huh," Gibbs replied. "Don't think David or McGee believe you did that all by yourself. I know the director was certainly impressive and that major up in Baltimore certainly talks like you're still a detective up there."

Tony paused for a second with another piece of steak on the fork that was mere inches from his mouth. He wasn't surprised about what Majors said at all, but it was the fact that Leon Vance was still heaping praise on him.

That thought process was quickly stopped by the piece of steak in front of his mouth and Gibbs' next five words.

"That was good work, Tony."

"Thanks boss. I was far from doing it all by myself. The guys up in Baltimore really helped out, plus Abby and Palmer were willing to put their necks on the line to help out. Couldn't have done it without them."

"DiNozzo, when are you going to learn to take full credit when you deserve it?"

"Never been my style Gibbs. I may act cocky when I accept those awards on your behalf, but that's because I can," Tony said, shooting a half smile at Gibbs, who in turn snickered at the comment.

The two, again, began eating and drinking in silence. Tony's mind began wondering to his and Abby's time in Miami. There was something hinky, as Abby put it when he talked to her about it, that kept nagging at him during his week and a half there.

With the steaks done and four more beers left, now was the best time to get his boss' opinion of it.

"While Abby and I were in Miami, I just had this feeling I was being watched," Tony began.

"Knowing you were probably trying to flirt with every woman, I bet you had jealous men, boyfriends and husbands watching you," Gibbs retorted.

"No, I wasn't hitting on anyone. More or less making sure Abby wasn't having the wrong guys eyeing her; but, back to my point. It wasn't a bad feeling of being watched. Just had this feeling someone was keeping an eye on me down there."

"Do you know anyone down there?"

"No, I don't. None of my fraternity brothers from Ohio State ever went to Miami for spring break. Senior is in New York and can't really go anywhere because of his situation and I don't have any distant relatives that far south."

"DiNozzo, you sure it wasn't an involuntary reflex from putting the Rocci's away?"

"That thought did cross my mind. Never knew if Billy Rocci developed any connections that far south. His father never got past D.C. and I doubt Billy was anymore successful."

Gibbs stared at his senior field agent and shrugged his shoulders. If Tony couldn't place who was down there watching him, he probably couldn't think of anyone either. Truth be told, Tony had made many enemies during his time as a detective and special agent, and any of those who held grudges could have been following him.

Though, that contradicted Tony's statement about feeling like someone was keeping an eye on him in Miami.

"That was me watching you in Miami."

The voice startled both Gibbs and Tony out of their thoughts as they jumped off the sofa and both had their hands on their firearms before realizing who was standing in the doorway.

"Dr. Cranston," Tony stated. "I guess I should be thankful for having someone watch over me."

The emergence of Dr. Rachel Cranston into Gibbs' home actually threw both Gibbs and Tony for a loop, but they weren't that surprised, especially after they were the ones who connected the dots to her being Kate Todd's sister.

Rachel vividly remembered how to get to Gibbs' house since the most startling revelation of her discovery into Kate's coworkers had been revealed. The basement in Gibbs' house would always be a place of closure for her.

"I thought I'd run into the two of you here," she said, smiling at the two of them as they retook their seats on the sofa and offered her to sit down on the chair next to them.

She wasn't surprised to find Tony at Gibbs' home, but she was hoping to at least talk to them one at a time like she had prior. DiNozzo and Gibbs had figured out who she really was during her interviews with the team earlier in the year, and she wanted to talk to them specifically because they were on the roof when Kate had been shot.

It was something that had nagged at her following her evaluations with the team. She knew what happened on the rooftop and what Gibbs and Tony did to find Kate's killer. However, she never really got to talk to Gibbs and Tony about how they dealt with her death.

"Is there something we can do for you, Dr. Cranston," Gibbs asked.

"Yes there is Agent Gibbs," Rachel answered.


	2. Chapter 2

Tony walked into the bullpen early Monday morning after not really being able to sleep much the previous two nights. His outward appearance didn't show the lack of sleep or tiredness he felt, as his feet didn't produce the same skip as a typically refreshing vacation produced when he first reappeared at the office.

Playing through his mind was the conversation he had with Dr. Cranston. It was a meeting he didn't expect and the questions totally threw him off his game.

_- Flashback –_

"Look, Dr. Cranston, I'm not a big fan of shrinks and I have a feeling this is a visit dealing with your profession and not with your relations to Kate," Tony flatly stated. He was in the same mood when he was first approached by Rachel in the break room and didn't really want to talk. If he had to, he was prepared to be quick and straight to the point.

"No. I'm here because after Agent Gibbs told me how Kate died, I was worried about how the two of you – the ones on the roof – were handling her death. Something like that sticks with you, especially in the sudden manner that it happened."

Tony visibly recalled that day on the rooftop. It was his first day back at work after his bout with the pneumonic plague and he was running off adrenaline as he and the team tracked down a terrorist cell that was planning an attack in Norfolk.

It was after the last supposed terrorist was killed and Gibbs, Tony and Kate were sharing a light moment together that the sniper bullet ripped through her head and splashed the blood on his face.

The image of the back of her head exploding, and the taste and feel of her blood on his face were never going away as long as he lived.

"You know, Dr. Cranston. That day has never left me. It still haunts me to this day that an agent who I respected and had grown to know as a good friend was taken from me," Tony said as his voice began to tremble. His lips followed suit as he tried desperately to stop the stammering with his knuckle. His eyes began to water up and before things got completely out of hand, he sucked in the snot that was about to run out of his nose, wiped at his eyes and looked back at Rachel as if things were fine.

Rachel saw through the mask he was trying to piece back together, but she had peeled back a layer that was there and was starting to see the real reason.

"I understand that you've lost fellow coworkers in the field while you were in Peoria, Baltimore and even saw detectives killed in the line of duty while working joint operations as a member of NCIS. Why did Kate's death hit you so hard?"

Tony sat straight up before letting out a long, drawn-out breath that he had been holding in since his revelation about what he felt that day had been let out. He slumped back down in his chair and thought carefully about what he was going to say next.

"All of the detectives, officers and agents who have died while I was working with them, they were in the line of duty. We were in the line of fire and we went there because we were doing our job. Kate's death," Tony paused as he again fought back tears. This was a lot tougher than he expected and he was certain that Dr. Cranston was nowhere near done asking questions.

"Kate's death came when we felt that the job was done and there was no other danger around. She was joking around with us, even though she had just been shot point blank in her bulletproof vest. There was no warning or sign that a bullet was about to be fired that was aimed directly at her head."

Tony's head was now fully engulfed in his hands. He had gone from having a great time on vacation in Miami with Abby to having to relive one of the most difficult days of his life. He picked his head up, his eyes red from softly crying and he stared directly into Dr. Cranston's kind and caring eyes. He knew she didn't intend to make him suffer, but she wanted him to open up.

He didn't know why, but he was telling her things that he had never revealed to anyone else. It was like talking to Kate again. He had dropped his guard a little while he and Kate were awaiting the diagnosis of the plague and given Kate a little glimpse into his world. This, in his mind, was a continuation of that.

Rachel didn't expect the reaction she received, but she knew she hit something that triggered his response. In her research into Kate's death, Tony and Gibbs had been the two who had the most to grieve since they witnessed the death, but they continued to act professionally and carried the team during the hunt for the killer and the cases afterward. She knew she had to keep pressing forward.

"Is that why you are so protective of other females agents since then? You were close to Paula Cassidy and were the first one to the trap door when she tackled the bomber to prevent other people from dying. You were the one who suggested going to Somalia to find Ziva. You found her and, from what I was told, instrumental to buying enough time for the SEAL team to be in place to attack and rescue you and her. Also, you were the only one who had strong reactions to when she was kidnapped by Jonas Cobb during the Port-to-Port serial killer case. Tony, I believe you hold fellow female agents close to you because you don't want to lose them like you lost Agent Todd. It's almost like you owe that to them because you don't want to feel that loss again."

Tony's eye began fluttering and filling up with tears. After all these years of looking after Cassidy and Ziva, he hadn't put his finger on why he was so protective of them. It finally became clear that he was so protective because he didn't want to lose them like he had lost Kate. That void in his life – a female agent who was more than capable at her job and provided banter in return – had been filled, if he could describe it like that, by Paula and Ziva. He could never have the same friendship with them like he had with Kate, but it was still something there to fill the spot Kate held in his heart that had been ripped out by Ari's bullet.

Tony didn't reply, only sighing when he realized she had found the vulnerable spot in his life. He didn't expect her to find it, but wasn't surprised that she did when she continued digging.

"Is that why former Special Agent Barrett is also close to you? She reminds you a little bit of Kate," Dr. Cranston asked, breaking Tony's previous train of thought. He was baffled by the question at first, but allowed it to sink in.

"You know, Dr. Cranston, I get EJ. I told Ziva that at the bar. I get EJ and we hit it off almost immediately. We share so much in common and it's easy to be with her. I got Kate, but not in the way that we were going to date. It's different dynamics between the two of them."

"So, you've moved on from your womanizing days to where you're ready to settle down," Dr. Cranston asked, remembering her conversation with Tony in the autopsy where he confessed he was afraid that he would have nothing to show for all of his work because he wasn't married, had no kids and still lived alone.

"Yeah. I have. After our last conversation, I realized that I probably should start slowing down. It's worked so far."

_- End Flashback –_

Tony sat at his desk, looking at his dark computer screen and finally kicked out of the train of thought. He was still alone in the bullpen and probably would be for the next hour since he arrived well before any normal person would.

As he turned on his computer for the first time in two weeks, he thought about what Gibbs probably went through with Dr. Cranston and if she got anything out of him.

Tony still felt it odd that after all these years she would still ask about the aftermath, but he was grateful she did.

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><p><strong>Before you ask, yes, I'll get to Gibbs' session with Dr. Cranston. And there will be a case and more to come. The bit with Tony and his protectiveness with Cassidy and Ziva following Kate's death had been something that had rattled around in my mind for a few seasons. Hope you enjoy.<strong>


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